Grassroots coalition Together Baton Rouge, a group of faith-based organizations that recently issued a report detailing unequal policing across the city’s neighborhoods, is applauding the incorporation of practices outlining how Baton Rouge police officers use force into the department’s official policy.
Mayor Sharon Weston Broome announced the practices earlier today, saying the guidelines have would immediately go into effect.
“With the changes announced today, Baton Rouge’s use of force policy goes from being among the weakest 30 percent of cities in the nation to being among the strongest 7 percent, in terms of alignment with national best practices,” Together Baton Rouge says in a statement. “Embracing these practices officially as policy is important, because it gives them teeth and makes them enforceable, which is what has been proven across hundreds of cities to reduce instances of excessive force.”
The guidelines require officers to give a verbal warning before using deadly force, except in exigent circumstances. Officers also are required to de-escalate situations when possible and are prohibited from using chokeholds, strangleholds, also except in emergency situations when necessary.
The guidelines also prohibit officers from discharging firearms at a moving vehicle unless there is a deadly threat to others, and require officers to intervene and prevent fellow officers from using excessive force and to immediately report any instances of excessive force they observe.
“We believe that the implementation of these policy changes will enhance existing BRPD policies and compliment academy and in-service training,” Broome said earlier today at a press conference announcing the policy changes. The policies were agreed upon by local law enforcement and community leaders, the mayor said.
Police reform has been a hotly-debated topic in Baton Rouge since Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was shot and killed by white police officers on July 5 last year. The incident sparked intense protests, and was followed by the shooting of six police officers by a lone gunman from Missouri on July 17. The attack left three officers dead. The U.S. Department of Justice is still investigating the Sterling shooting and is expected to release its results sometime early this year.
Broome has gotten off to a rocky start with the police department and its union since being elected mayor in December and taking office last month. She called for replacing Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. while on the campaign trail and announced a national search for his replacement after winning the election.
When asked about the police chief at today’s press conference, Broome said: “The chief and I continue to have very productive and progressive conversations. He knows my desire for change and we’re working toward a resolution, but today about policy changes that are very important to move our community forward … to close the gap and build and strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and the citizens of our community.”
—Alexandria Burris
